The present invention relates generally to a bracket assembly for supporting components on a wall, and more particularly, to a cantilever bracket assembly for attaching horizontal components, such as worksurface members, to a side of a vertical wall.
Wall panel systems of the type used in office environments are commonly configured with various horizontal components, such as shelving or worksurface members. Typically, such horizontal components are supported by cantilever brackets extending outwardly from a vertical wall. The brackets, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,486, entitled BRACKET AND SHELF, and issued Mar. 29, 1995, typically include a vertical support web that carries the bending moment and a horizontal mounting flange that supports the component.
The mounting flange typically is formed integrally with the support web, or is fixedly attached to the support web with mechanical fasteners or by welding. Typically, such bracket assemblies are configured with the mounting flange extending from one side of the web or the other, or from both sides. With such bracket systems, an installer typically must maintain three or more types of bracket components in inventory in order to provide a left-hand support, a right-hand support and a bridge-type support.
Alternatively, some bracket systems have either separable vertical supports and horizontal mounting portions, or omit the horizontal mounting portion of the bracket altogether, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,421, entitled GONDOLA DISPLAY RACK and issued Apr. 27, 1993. In the latter embodiment, the horizontal component being supported, shown as shelving, is attached directly to the vertical support web of the bracket. The same vertical support web, however, cannot be used to support a right-hand shelf and a left-hand shelf at the same time. Similarly, the support cannot function as a bridge-type support in the middle of an elongated shelf. Thus, the installer must maintain numerous bracket components in inventory if it is desired to provide alternative configurations.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,306, entitled SHELF SUPPORTING STRUCTURE AND JOINT THEREFORE, horizontal frame members are shown which span the distance between parallel cantilever supports. The horizontal component, shown again as shelving, rests upon the horizontal frame members. In such an embodiment, frame members of varying lengths must be provided to accommodate shorter or longer shelving arrangements. In addition, the system cannot be reconfigured to support a right-hand, left-hand or bridge-type shelf using the same bracket components.